Views from the Tower

by Jessica Grey

Eleven enchanting fairy tale short

After spending her whole life isolated in a tower, Rapunzel’s salvation is finally at hand, but she may have merely traded one form of captivity for another…

Special Agent Alice Harrison of the Office of Narrative Order should know better than anyone not to follow a suspicious (and suspiciously good-looking) man in a white rabbit suit down a hole…

Miss Lucinda Beacham is bored. The endless balls and dances she must endure as a debutante hold no enjoyment for her—that is until she finds a frog sitting on the edge of a fountain, a frog who just so happens to know her name…

Being a fairy godmother isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially when you’re a junior in high school and your next assignment is your former crush…



Views from the Tower is a collection of short stories that offers new perspectives on some of your favorite fairy tales, including a trio of different takes on Rapunzel. Each story offers a unique foray into the exciting world of fantasy, as well as a golden opportunity to see some well-known legends in a whole new light.


View from the Captive
View from the Longing
View from the Hope
Chasing Storms
The Price of Beauty
Oh My Fairy Godmother
In Her Service
Mountain Rose
Down the Rabbit Hole
Magical Spell Support
Red

Also includes the first three chapters of A Fairytale, the debut YA fantasy novel by Jessica Grey

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fairy Tales, Retellings, Romance, Short Stories

94 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 29, 2012

About the author

Jessica Grey is an author, fairy tale believer, baseball lover, and recovering Star Wars fangirl. A life-long Californian, she now lives with her two children near Colorado Springs, where she spends her time writing, complaining about snow in April, and drinking way too much caffeine.

Jessica writes witty, modern Jane Austen adaptations and Young Adult fairy tales featuring strong girls and magic.

You can find out more about Jessica's novels and short story collections at www.authorjessicagrey.com.

Reviews

[RivkaBelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

eARC provided by author for review.
Review originally published on my blog: AWordsWorth.blogspot.com

Views from the Tower is a selection of fairy tales re-imagined. Some are flash fiction - which is new to me, but totally fun - and others are longer, more along the lines of a traditional short story. All are delightful, impressive, and quite honestly far too short. (Maybe I'm a fairy tale junkie -- I just can't get enough!)

A few of my favorites, to whet your appetite for a bit of fun fairy tale reading, to offer a bit of post-holiday sparkle, as winter settles in for a long stay ...

In Her Service: Okay, so maybe I'm a sucker for frog prince-type stories. And I'm definitely a sucker for snark. And we all know about the Regency/Austenesque fascination. Combine all three, and you get an amazing story that had me chuckling and wishing for more-much-more!

Red: Fractured fairy tale on a new level, and with just enough creepy to make you shiver. Jessica has taken "Red Riding Hood" to a new place (without making it freaky-creepy)!

Mountain Rose: You've heard of "Snow White and Rose Red"? This is that story. And it ranks among my favorites because it features an enchanted hero -- in the form of a bear. I have a thing for bear princes. And this one is beautifully written.

Chasing Storms: Not a fairy tale I recognize, but it's a beautiful story. The dragon, the flight, the storm. This one just snuck into my psyche and stole my imagination.
Trust me, this whole collection of stories is amazing - and as short stories, they're easy reads. I can't wait to see what other fairy tale goodness Jessica has up her sleeve.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm torn about this book. The writing is pretty typo free, but the style is a little lacking. It is technically correct, but it needs more detail and tone. It's almost as if Grey were frightened to try in some places and worried more about the technical aspect as oppose to the style aspect. Both are important. Because of the style problems some of the stories fall a bit flat.

However, the lack of style is made up for by the twists in the tales. The first three stories which are mediations on(by) Rapnuzel are very intersting. The retelling of Rumpstilken is great. The combining of Alice in Wonderland and Prince Charming is funny and inventive. The retelling of Little Red Riding Hood is one of the best I've seen.

Grey is worth keeping an eye on.

[Nancy Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Views From the Tower offers eleven new perspectives on fairy tales we all know. It starts with three flash fiction tales based on Rapunzel, where we get an idea of what it might have been like for her to be trapped, to have a way out, and finally to take charge of her own destiny.


From there, Grey moves on to other tales, such as Rumplestiltskin, Alice in Wonderland, The Princess and the Frog (see my review of this story here), and Snow White and Rose Red. Think you know these stories? Think again. Grey takes the beloved tales, takes them apart, and puts them back together in a way that turns your view of them on its head.


In one of my favorite tales, “Oh My Fairy Godmother,” she takes the mythos of the fairy godmother and makes it completely her own. Her fairy godmother is a modern high school student, about to finish her fairy godmother credentialing. The last step is to fairy godmother someone you know, and as you can imagine, convincing your longtime best friend that you can do magic proves to be a bit of a challenge.


As with all her books, Grey’s voice and quirky sense of humor make Views From the Tower a delight to read. The real-ness of her characters makes it easy to root for them (and their love interests) even in the limited space of a short story.


I was lucky enough to read an advance copy of Views From the Tower, and I still bought a copy as soon as she published. If you like fairy tales that sparkle with wit and romance, you will love this book.


I also encourage you to check out Jessica’s novel if you haven’t already. Awake is a brilliant modern reworking of Sleeping Beauty. Set in LA, two girls stumble upon a sleeping guy in a bejeweled bed, and find a 13th century princess ready to chastise him for trying to wake her when he was not, in fact, a prince.

[Veronica Ibarra · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a fan of short stories in general. Throw in a fairy tale twist and I'm hooked. Grey's collection is full of intriguing ideas I would love to see expanded and explored further. I really like how her mind works, and was even pleasantly surprised in a few places. It isn't often I read anything in which something happens I didn't see coming, but there were a few moments of sheer brilliance that will now plague me intensely. The over all effect was 4 out of 5, but I can say that one of my favorite short stories of all time now comes from this collection.

[Joanna Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Views from the tower is a collection of short stories.
While all the stories are clever retellings of familiar fairy tales, I absolutely adored "oh my fairy godmother" and Grey's take on the frog prince.

[Richelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

They weren't finished fairy tales-they gave you a hint about the end and then you'd have to figure it out yourself. It's a great prompt book or it can give you idea's for how fairy tales can be re-written.

[MLL · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some good stories in it. But the truth is it is even shorter than it pretends to be. Over 40% of the "book" is really an excerpt from another book for sale by that author. That seems a high percentage of the book I thought I was getting to be taken up as "advertising."

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

My only complaint... They were too short... I wanted to know more! :)

[Alyssa Greatbanks · Rating 1 out of 5]

The stories weren't too bad, but they were very short, too short to really tell you anything. Not to mention a little over half of the book was just excerpts from another book.

[Danica Lamphere · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short anthology of different perspectives from various fairy tales, imaginative and unique and I only wish a few of them had become full books in themselves.

[Janis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Clever use of the reader's knowledge of fairy tales, but too brief with not enough substance to be truly enjoyable.

[Samantha Adkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

A clever collection of reinvented fairy tales. Jessica Grey has an engaging writing style that is easy to read and highly enjoyable. Each story left me wanting more.

[Marjorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a compilations of short fairy tale retellings. I loved most of them. Nice light read and fun.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was more than halfway through when it suddenly became "unavailable" on Kindle so I wasn't able to finish it